tile repair

Victorian Minton Tiled Floor Restoration Bedford

Minton Tiled Victorian Hallway Floor Fully Restored in Bedford

We often see Victorian tiled floors, like this Minton tile example in Bedford, where they have become damaged or broken due to years of neglect or simply because pipes were laid for central heating. Owners of floors like this often have them covered up with carpet until a new owner reveals what was under the carpet and decides they would like the original feature back. The owner of this property had made exactly that decision and contacted Tile Doctor to find out what could be done to resolve their Victorian tiled hallway floor.

I paid a visit to the property to survey the floor and immediately saw there were two sections of tiling that had been dug out during the installation of radiator pipework. The sections were then backfilled with cement ruining the look of the floor.

Victorian Minton Tiled Hallway Floor Before Restoration Bedford

The client required the original look back again to enhance the original features of the property.
Having restored numerous period floors previously I was confident all these problems could be resolved and the floor renovated to a high standard.

Repairing and Cleaning a Victorian Minton Tiled Floor

Before cleaning the floor the cemented sections needed to be dealt with starting by carefully chipping out the cement that had been used to provide a level surface for the carpet. The rubble was raked out and a new bed laid with self-levelling cement. Since my initial visit I was able to track down matching replacement tiles and these were then used to rebuild the missing sections of flooring.

Victorian Minton Tiled Hallway Floor During Repair Bedford

Once the repairs had set the cleaning process could begin starting with the application Tile Doctor Remove and Go worked in with a coarse 200-grit diamond pad. Remove and Go is a powerful tile cleaning product that as the name suggests will remove all sorts of coatings such as sealers. Small hand-held Diamond blocks were used for cleaning up the corners and edges where the pads struggle to reach. This action pulls the dirt out from the pores of the tile to the surface where it is then rinsed away with water and extracted using a wet vacuum.

The final clean involves giving the floor an acid rinse for which I use Tile Doctor Grout Clean Up. This final step removes old grout smears, efflorescent salts and counters the use of alkaline cleaning products such as Remove and Go leaving the floor with a neutral ph. Lastly it etches the tile slightly resulting in a stronger bond with the sealer, improved finish, and better performance. After another rinse and extract the floor was then dried to a sufficient level using floor fans and I returned two days later to seal the floor.

Sealing a Victorian Minton Tiled Floor

After checking the floor was dry with a damp meter, I set about applying a single coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that soaks into the pores of the tile improving colour and adding protection from within. Once dry it was followed up with several coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which provided the subtle sheen finish my client wanted.

Victorian Minton Tiled Hallway Floor After Restoration Bedford

As usual before leaving we like to advise the customer on how to maintain the tiles using a compatible cleaning product such as Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner. This aftercare product has a neutral ph. which won’t impact the sealer like many of the standard bleach-based products you find in supermarkets.

 

Professional Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Restoration in Bedford

Minton Tiled Victorian Hallway Floor Fully Restored in Bedford Read More »

Victorian Tiled Floor Before After Restoration in Sharnbrook

Red and Black Victorian Tiled Floor Restored in Sharnbrook

We were asked to restore a beautiful Victorian tiled floor at a house in the small village of Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire. The floor had been badly treated for many years until new occupiers decided to restore it.

The area comprised of a Pantry, Loo, Lobby, Dining room, Kitchen and Conservatory, we had several problems to deal with including some tiles that were loose, some had cement on them and the dining room floor had the remnants of a coir rug stuck to the surface.

Victorian Tiled Floor Before Restoration in Sharnbrook

Cleaning Old Quarry Tiles

Having moved all the furniture we started from the far end pre-treating the coir matted dining room tiles by soaking them in a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean; leaving them to soak in this way would soften up the matting and enabled us to remove the debris more easily with a scrapper by the time we got to the dining room.

We then started on the rest of the floor again using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was left to dwell on the tile for ten minutes before being worked in using a scrubbing pad until any remaining old sealer was stripped off the tile the tiles were clean.

For the tiles which were covered in cement we treated them with an acid rinse using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up, being an acid you have to take care and wear appropriate personal protection and not to leave the acid on the tile for too long. It was satisfying however to watch the cement fizz away to reveal the beautiful tile below.

Once everything was stripped and the floor clean we gave the tiles a thorough rinse and extracted as much water from the floor as possible before installing a number of and air movers to speed up the drying process.

Whilst the floor was drying our attention moved onto the replacement of the lose tiles and re-adhering them to the floor. This was a straight forward job using tile adhesive and matching grout and we then left to allow the floor to dry out thoroughly.

Victorian Tiled Floor After Deep Cleaning in Sharnbrook

Sealing Quarry Tiles

We returned seven days later and took more damp readings, these all read ok so we proceeded to seal the floor. First we used a coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer the gets into the pores of the tile protecting it from within and also enhancing the colours in the tile in the process; this was then followed with four coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go to leave a high shine finish as requested by the client.

Victorian Tiled Floor After Restoration in Sharnbrook
 

Restoring and repairing old Victorian Quarry Tiles in Bedfordshire

Red and Black Victorian Tiled Floor Restored in Sharnbrook Read More »

Scroll to Top